3 persons of interest sought in Texas church fires

This combo of three sketches provided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives via KLTV Friday in Tyler shows the three persons of interest in a string of Texas church fires.

This combo of three sketches provided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives via KLTV Friday in Tyler shows the three persons of interest in a string of Texas church fires.

Photo: AP2010

Photo: AP2010

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This combo of three sketches provided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives via KLTV Friday in Tyler shows the three persons of interest in a string of Texas church fires.

This combo of three sketches provided the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives via KLTV Friday in Tyler shows the three persons of interest in a string of Texas church fires.

Photo: AP2010

3 persons of interest sought in Texas church fires

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TYLER — Arson investigators said Friday they are seeking three men in connection with a series of church fires in east and central Texas.

Sketches of the three “persons of interest” were provided at a news conference by officials with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Tom Crowley, an ATF spokesman in Dallas, told The Associated Press that “we want to interview” the men as a result of tip line information and work by investigators.

“We want to find out who they are, why they were around and who they know,” Crowley said. The men were spotted in an area related to the fires. Crowley declined to be more specific.

Two fires Monday northwest of Tyler, about 90 miles east of Dallas, have been ruled arson, the ATF said. The incidents damaged Dover Baptist Church and Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church.

Those brought to nine the number of deliberately set fires at east Texas churches since Jan. 1. ATF officials said another church fire in Temple, about 120 miles south of Dallas, also was arson.

No injuries have been reported.

The sketches released Friday depict one man with short hair and a flame-like tattoo on his neck, another short-haired man with an inverted cross on his left forearm from wrist to elbow, and a third man with longer hair.